Q. We have a minhag in our shul that we make a seuda on Lag Baomer and we lite 33 candles, and we honored different people to light. Our shul has B’H grown a lot in the last years and the new board wants to sell the lightning of the candles for much needed income and to avoid conflict.
An elderly and venerable member has been honored for many years to light a candle, he complained that he has already an established right and it should be maintained. What is the Halacha?
A. Poskim deal with similar shailos regarding established aliyos during Yamim Noraim and different opinions are mentioned depending on a variety of factors.
Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that in our case, the most simple solution that would avoid a likely Machlokes, is to light some more candles in a different table or location and to grant the venerable member his already established honor.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu Shlit’a